Ben Smith has been a PGA Professional at Ingestre Park for 18 years. He qualified in 2012 and he is involved across all areas of the Staffordshire club. In more recent years, he has added a list of skills through The PGA's CPD offerings. Here are his key CPD takeaways.
Dip in and out whenever you have some spare time
I started during Covid. My daughter was aged 18 months so she was having naps which allowed me to dip into the CPD. I jumped onto the PGA Learn platform and just made a start. There are lots of filter options and menus so you go to whichever area you want to look at.
At the time, I was looking at coaching and fitting so I took on some of the certified courses. I also did some of the putting ones which only took a few hours so I was doing an hour or two a day to work my way through them.
You can use the CPD to update and add to knowledge you may have acquired at school
I now do marketing for the golf club so I'll look after the website, social media and marketing content. I've always had a keen interest in graphics and marketing, I did A Level graphics and art at school – all that now ties into The PGA.
I've done a few marketing courses just to get more knowledge. If it can benefit me in the long run with any future developments, then great. I'm starting to experiment doing blogs and building websites on Canva so I'm just experimenting and playing with it to see what I can do.
You could have a full-time job doing the marketing for the club and you would put a full strategy together. For me, at the moment, it's more ad hoc and posting relevant day-to-day content.
We've been affected by HS2 and rebuilt the course so there's been a lot happening to show on our various channels. I've learned how to fly a drone – a skill that at the club no-one really had.
Pictured: PGA Member Ben Smith
A few hours of CPD per month fits into a busy working schedule
I do my CPD on a day off or in between coaching when you can just jump on. The good thing is a lot of it is module based so you can dip in and out. There are some videos that are as short as three minutes so that's easy to fit in.
There are some bigger courses on there which you have to pay for, and they take up more time – but there's so much free stuff on there to boost your knowledge. At the moment, I do about three hours a month.
Take advantage of brand education on new product
When new product comes out, the brands have their online universities and courses to boost knowledge on products and then you're ready to go for the season.
The reps will come in and explain it but then you've got the online courses to actually understand the technology that's gone into it and where they're going with it and then you can use it to sell. People build trust with you because you've got the knowledge.
It also builds your confidence to explain it so, when you're talking to a customer, they will have that trust in you and, yes, that can result in sales but it's more having that confidence that you know what you're on about as well.
“Earning accredited status, by doing a certain amount of CPD hours, is recognition of your efforts” - Ben Smith
Get your efforts recognised – as well as gaining knowledge
It's enjoyable to learn new skills and, for me, the marketing side is something new. The equipment side is more necessity but that's a big part of the job and it's valued by your employers. Earning accredited status, by doing a certain amount of CPD hours, is recognition of your efforts.
Dive in!
Do it – there's nothing to intimidate anyone on there. You can go on the PGA Learn platform and you don't have to do something straightaway. You can just scout around it and dip your toe in the water before choosing the knowledge that you want to try and acquire.
For example, some Members might want to go into management and there are plenty of courses on that. It tells you how long it's likely to take and whether there's a cost involved and you can make your decision from that.
Even if it's not on the website, when you do a course you can still put it on your records as long as you can justify how it's benefited you. For example, a training day on a product can be classed as CPD.
